Official word on Jeff Halpern signing

NEW YORK, July 10, 2012 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with free agent forward Jeff Halpern.

Halpern, 36, skated in 69 games with the Washington Capitals last season, registering four goals and 12 assists for 16 points, along with 24 penalty minutes. He led the team and ranked fifth in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage (58.3%), winning 358 of 614 faceoffs. Halpern tallied an assist while skating in his 800th career NHL game on October 27 at Edmonton. He recorded four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game span from December 5 at Florida to December 13 against Philadelphia, including a multi-point effort with a goal and an assist on December 7 at Ottawa. Halpern also skated in two playoff contests.

The 12-year NHL veteran has surpassed the 40-point plateau four times, and has reached the 20-goal mark twice. Halpern has also ranked in the top 30 in the league in faceoff winning percentage in five seasons.

The 6-0, 200-pounder has skated in 861 career regular season games with the Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and Montreal Canadiens, registering 146 goals and 212 assists for 358 points, along with 607 penalty minutes. Halpern established career-highs in assists (33) and shots on goal (151) with Washington during the 2005-06 season. In 2003-04, he registered career-highs in points (46) and power play goals (seven), while he notched career-highs in goals (21) and game-winning goals (five) in his second season in 2000-01.

As a rookie in 1999-00, Halpern tallied 18 goals and 11 assists for 29 points, along with 39 penalty minutes and a plus-21 rating with Washington. He ranked sixth among NHL rookies in goals and 15th in points. He also tied for first among league rookies with a plus-21 rating and eighth with four power play goals. Halpern made his NHL debut on October 2, 1999, at Florida, and registered his first NHL point with an assist on October 16, 1999, against San Jose. He notched his first career goal on October 19, 1999, against Anaheim.

In postseason action, Halpern has registered seven goals and six assists for 13 points, along with 31 penalty minutes in 36 career contests with Washington, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Montreal. He established playoff career-highs in assists (three) and points (five) in six games with Washington during the 2001 playoffs. He tied for the team lead in points and goals (two), and tied for second on the team in assists that postseason.

The Washington, D.C. native was originally signed by Washington as a free agent on March 29, 1999.

Carp – it’s because he did show he can play on the 1st line. Some teams might see him slotting in as a top 6 forward on their team. Especially those who don’t have a high payroll. Nashville for example could use a player like Hagelin since he’ll be cheaper than some other player who can play top 6 minutes.

While teams like the Rangers/Leafs/Habs overpay for 2nd line players, those cap floor teams (Nashville/Phoenix/etc) try to bring in Hagelin type guys to play those 2nd line wing roles and get decent production for cheap.

Not saying he would get us Ryan or Nash, just saying that he wouldn’t be worth it as a top 6 player on the Rangers when they have the bankroll to spend more for better forwards.

so, are you trading him because he’s not a top-six forward? then getting a non-top-six forward in return? what would you expect to get? I don’t buy this whole “trade him because his value will never be higher” thing … unless you’re getting somebody better than he is.

Prust deserved every penny he got, but the NYR didn’t owe him a big contract like that. Montreal is starting from dead last. More power to them. The Rangers are on the cusp. If Sather just freed up $2-3 mil letting Prust and Feds walk that’s good for the team. Prust is a warrior, but he has been very fortunate to avoid injury the last couple years. In fact, his style of play is hard to lock up for 4 years. Great to have, but comes with risks. Remember Colton Orr? 4 year deal, couldn’t finish the first year. Useless since. Now Boogard was dumb by Sather, but even he had no chance of finishing that deal. If the $2 mil Sather saved means offering that to Weber next summer, who will give a crap?

Also, I think people forget that next year’s RFAs are McDonagh (currently at $1.3m), Stepan ($875k), Anisimov ($1.875m), and Sauer ($1.25m). Kreider is up the year after that. McDonagh and Stepan will get at least $3 mil each (I can see McD getting close to $4 mil if he progresses even further this year).

Either way, most of those guys are getting a significant increase. I don’t think it’s enough to really kill the cap space we might have, but it’ll still be enough to try to save some cushion going into next year once the actual cap numbers are known.

Carp – I think you are missing what I’m saying. I’m saying you can package him into a deal because his stock is high right now. So if you are going after Nash or Ryan, you can package him into that deal to get a better player. I’m not saying anyone would trade either of those guys straight up for him, but he can be added to the deal. So instead of giving up on someone who I believe has more upside (i.e. Stepan), you throw him in there.

And I’m not saying I’d trade him, I’m just saying I don’t think he’ll be as big of a piece of the team going forward as he was last year. He’s not a 1st line winger IMO and his play will most likely start to show he’s better off on the 3rd line.

Let’s not forget that in a few short years HANK will be a Free Agent. This creates what I call the “Hank Window”. Meaning we must keep the best team we can until he is ready to depart or over the hill. If Miller takes three years to be Nash then get Nash Now.

I really like hags and think his speed is great for the third line and he can move up if there are injuries. He makes the team better with his skating and puck pursuit, can really However, if there is a way to package him in a deal that allows us to get Ryan, Nash or a like player without losing Stepan, sure trade the fast Swede.

So it looks like it will take 3-4 years to sign Doan. Would all the anti Nash guys arguing that his cap hit is too high or that he still has 6 more years which only takes him to age 33-34 be intellectually honest and also argue against signing Doan for what is surely to be a 4 year, 25+ million dollar deal?

why is Hags suddenly getting knocked down to a 3rd line?
his speed and ability to beat the defense and get the puck to someone such
as Richards or Gabby is what makes him valuable on lines 1 or 2.

as far as all the signings so far
it looks as if the Rangers Brain Trust wanted to address some of our weaknesses that
were showed up during the playoffs — faceoffs, grits, depth, scoring from 3rd/4th lines as well as the impending loss of Prust.

as much as we want space available for youth some vets are needed and if a younger player
outplays and older one
well
so it goes

My big question, NYR, is, “what will the Rangers be able to retain while getting better.” Hank can take a lot of cap space in my opinion. He’s great. But McBust and Kreider and all these other phenoms will need raises. And before we start losing them we should maximize our team value.

And just for the record, Doan has scored 30 goals only twice in his career. Rick Nash is ten times the player Shame Doan ever is or was. Anything more than a 1-2 year deal at 4.5 per is lunacy.

And now we are trading Hagelin because after scoring 38pts in 60+ games, we are convinced that he tops out as a third line player. But MDz, after 3 seasons of mediocre and inconsistent play is too valuable to trade.

if hank was about winning championships he would sign a team discount and work with the rangers to keep a good team together, considering he has made his money. When the time comes, we’ll see what happens.

tommyg, this isnt a knock on you…. youre dreaming if you think #30 will take less money during his next contract to help the Rangers. And there is a history of players taking less money or in other sports, restructuring their contract to provide the team more money to spend elsewhere. Most notably, Tom Brady.

that brad richards did more in one game than hank did in his tenure.. do u realize that the main reason the rangers got to the eastern conference finals is henrik lundqvist, they scored 4 goals 1 game in the 20 games of the playoffs

Sorry, Rob. I dont settle for being happy with making it to Game 6 of the ECF. Yes, he’s the reason why we were there. And yes, he’s also the reason why we got booted from the playoffs after 3 straight losses.

no hes not ur an idiot, did u watch how the skaters played in the ECF? they didnt play a single good first period, not one, out of six games, and they contributed majorly to putting themselves behind the 8 ball in games 5 and 6

Manny, Ill wait to praise this guy until he shows up when it matters the most. If Im not mistaken, he still has an under .500 playoff record. No longer will I cheer his 10 regular season shutouts and 35 regular season wins. When it matters most, when it matters most…

jpg – That’s better served on a 3rd line where you have guys who keep the puck down low after dumping and chasing. Your 1st and 2nd line shouldn’t be dumping and chasing all the time. They should be using their skill to enter the zone and cycle around the net.

Hagelin was great last year because that was the whole offense, all 4 lines. Dump, chase, hold by the boards and try to find either a winger or d-man sneaking into the slot. If we got a legit winger scoring thread, that won’t be necessary. Hence why he’s a better 3rd line player.

Carp – I guess a better way to explain it is the stock market. If everyone agreed on every company’s value, nobody would trade. Same thing in the NHL. I personally think Hags is a career 3rd liner, maybe 2nd liner on the right team. But I’m sure there are other GMs that see him as a consistent 2nd line winger in the league.

What I’m saying is that he just had a pretty solid finish to the season where he was the 1st line winger. Those GMs that see him as a 2nd line winger have reason to trade for him now and Sather can get back much more than he will later on if (and IMO when) he gets back to playing 3rd line minutes.

Rob, the skaters didnt show up, thats when its time for the best goalie in the world to have his teammates’ backs.

Please dont resort to name calling or blowing things out of proportion, folks. I didnt say trade #30.

NYR, yes it does make sense. When the going got tough, with 8 seconds remaining in Game 5, Brad Richards got going and scored the biggest playoff goal for the Rangers in a long time. Like I said, #30’s career playoff record is probably under .500

yea an under 500 playoff record, thats a good argument.. bc those early playoff teams he was on really were cup contenders that should have went deep in the playoffs right? those scott gomez chris drury teams, think before u type man

Tiki – do you not remember the roster the Rangers had when Henke first came into the league? The fact the Rangers even got into the playoffs for a couple years had everything to do with him.

I used to think he was way overrated, but when you have Matt Cullen playing on your second line (who I am a big fan of, but he’s not a second liner) or Marcel Hossa/Jason Ward/Ville Nieminen/Dominic Moore/Jed Ortmeyer/etc playing on your 3rd line, you shouldn’t be a playoff team.

His post season record is more of a reflection of the team (and the fact that they were usually the lower seeded team going into the series anyway) than his actual play. Last season was the first year since 98 that the Rangers were the higher seeded team in the 1st round of the playoffs.

and i love marty straka but those jagr nylander straka teams, those teams should have went to the eastern conference finals right? u can have a great playoff record if youre playing on a team that has a doesnt really have a legitimate chance to make a run

And I’m not taking a shot at you either, I’m just saying the playoff record isn’t a good stat to look at. The guy was playing on 7th or 8th ranked teams against the top 2 in the conference. He had no chance to win any of those series. I mean Nik Antropov was our leading scorer a few years ago. That’s just brutal haha.

He’s been essentially the Vezina winner for 4 straight years. He had a .500 playoff record again this postseason. He also had an excellent defense of Staal, Girardi, McDonagh, and Del Zotto in front of him. Enough with making excuses for this guy. At some point, he’s going to have to produce and win games for his team in the postseason, or his legacy is going to be painted as one of the most successful regular season goalies ever and postseason flops.

The Bruins won the Cup 2 years ago because of Tim Thomas. Their roster wasnt that good. You can try to paint it another way, but thats the truth. They had Zdeno Chara and god knows who else on defense. They struggled to score and their power play sucked just like this year’s Rangers. They didnt score a PP goal in the 1st 3 rounds of the playoffs. Their goalie won them that Cup. Im just waiting for our goalie to do the same.

Carp, please dont get involved in this. I can handle other people’s criticism. But when you start with the criticism, I get concerned about it turning into a blog fight (in comparison to a Twitter war). You dont agree with me, Im fine with that. He’s been the best player on the team for 5+ years now. Of course youre not going to agree with me.

Tiki just please, please, please tell me who you would rather have in net. Based on the awards, Hank was the single best goalie in the NHL. The only other goalie who was comparable won the Stanley Cup when his team scored 7 goals in the deciding game. Also, that other goalie time and again made terrible choices with his stick that led to goals against (I am not talking about Mike Smith here).

I would just like to one time express an unpopular opinion and be responded to in the manner Jonny is responding. Jonny, I understand all that. His games 4, 5, 6 against the Devils were atrocious. He didnt even give his team a chance to win. And his team nearly bailed his aasen out with 2 impressive comebacks.

Im not saying #30 is the problem. He’s the best goalie in the NHL. Im just saying his playoff career has been well short of stellar. Oy vey. He’s still got hopefully 10 years or so to prove he’s a playoff winner. We’ll see. But IMO, this was his golden opportunity against less than stellar competition.

Manny, I wouldnt want any other goalie. He’s young with a reasonable contract, and hes the best in the game for 4 years running now. I never said I wanted rid of him. I just want him to step up when it matters the most.

Blowing it out of proportion? Leave it to Blog Bully, Mister Meager, Keyboard Courage to chime in.

Tiki – Game 5 I’ll agree he was pretty bad. But Game 6 wasn’t on him. I don’t even think Game 4 was on him.

The fact is, he bailed them out all playoffs long. It didn’t help that they went 7 games in the first two series because he kept them barely floating above water while they struggled to put the puck in the net.

The reality is if they had 1 more consistent scorer, they would’ve been out of the 1st two rounds in 5, 6 at the most and Henke wouldn’t have had to work as much as he did early and could’ve saved a lot of that energy for the ECF. If the team in front of him started games better too, that would’ve helped a lot as well. Just because he had 2 bad games doesn’t mean he is the reason they didn’t go to the Cup Finals.

And I was just saying you can’t use his record to say whether or not he has been good in the playoffs. The team in front of him has much more to do with the record than he does.

Hank is not, repeat is not why we lost to the Devils. We lost because we could not score! Don’t be misled by our progress all the way to the ECF. With a bad bounce either way, we could have gone home as early as the first round. We need scoring and a point shot harder than that of a peewee defensman. Defense is not an issue for us.

yea Game 6 was hanks fault going down 2-0, one of the goals occuring because hank made a great stop on a breakaway and neither of the 2 defenseman could clear the rebound, yea hank put them in that hole… and yea the rest of the team played real well to start games 5 and games 6, definitely

Their best scorer and best player besides Hank was hurt for nearly the entire playoffs as well, that counts for something, and callahan broke a bone in his foot in one of the first games of the devils series.. yea injuries happen and i probably sound like im wah wahing about it but its the truth and with a healthier gaborik things may have been alot different

Look, Im sorry for even bringing this topic of discussion up again. Im just beating a dead horse by continuing to attack #30. Its not entirely rational, but its the way I feel sometimes. Im in a very good place right now, so Ill apologize again for bringing it up and move on to another topic.

their best scorer and best player, besides hank, was also hurt for nearly the entire playoffs with a shoulder injury, and callahan broke a bone in his foot in one of the first games against the devils, and I know injuries happen and i probably sound like im wah wahing but the fact is that if the rangers had at least a healthIER gaborik things very well could have been different, the focus on hank really needs to stop
and hank did NOT blow game 6 that is for sure, on one of the first 2 goals that gave the devils an early lead, he made a great save on a breakaway, and puck laying there from the rebound was not cleared by either defenseman coming back and one of the trailers was able to put it in, how can that goal be hanks fault, its simple, it wasnt, game 5 he was very bad but the team also did not bring it that first period, as they did not the other 5 games of the series

I think you’ll find you threw a mighty tantrum because I made an innocuous joke about (admiited and proven) Yankee PED users, and now you’ve thrown another mighty tantrum because I made an innocuous joke about your transparently hypocritical comment about people blowing things out of proportion.

I really don’t give a flying cluster-Byfuglien what you think of me or what names you call me, but maybe you’d like to review exactly who has been the one throwing insults around and repeatedly causing a scene. (Hint: it ain’t me)

And FWIW, I’d be perfectly happy to tell you that your opinion on Lundqvist is amusingly ludicrous without hiding behind my armour-plated keyboard and giant plasma TV.

Tiki, I’m not in this fight but I’d like you to know I think your Henrik ranting is both ridiculous and tired. Its our little blog’s version of the guy who calls Francesa and labels Sabathia a loser because he gave up a run in a 1-0 loss. Nobody likes when that guy gets ranting, do they?

Or for anyone desperate for my opinion to be posted (for what is surely the only time in history)…

In my opinion, in the long list of reasons for the Rangers’ playoff defeat, Lundqvist not caring enough about winning, not having a winning record on the powerhouse teams he’s been on the last seven years and not spending every waking moment of his off-season in the gym or practicing his stickhandling, rank somewhere just below Mike Rupp not getting 30 minutes a game and Dubinsky making a patch of floor smell a bit like Gatorade.

Carp, …or someone
I just checked previous thread and saw at 10:38 AM:
“4everanger July 10th, 2012 at 10:38 am Yanks just acquired BOTH Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”
Someone posted that under my moniker. Why and what for? As a matter of fact I even don’t know who this Yanks are, leave alone other bullcarsillo and urgency to post this crap. What was that?

Hypocritical comment? So Im not allowed to have an unpopular opinion on #30 without it being called blown out of proportion. Is this guy immune to all criticism? I never suggested trading #30, Manny blew my comment out of proportion as a lot of people on here do, that was blowing it out of proportion. Criticizing a guy isnt. Having a problem with a guy’s performance isnt.

Ive ignored dozens of your sarcastic swipes at me in the past several months. Times I couldve responded but chose not to. I dont attack any of opinions of yours that I disagree with. I just ignore them, because I make a concerted effort to not make Carps life any more difficult than it already is. I responded a month or so ago, but it wasnt a tantrum. I called you what you are. Again, deal with it like a man.

Youd be perfectly happy to tell me that its ludicrous, but you wont provide any statistics or reasoning as to why. And you certainly wouldnt attempt to mock me to my face, because as Ive already stated, youre a prototypical keyboard courage coward.

To be clear, thats not saying I would get physical if he attempted to mock me to my face. I dont resort to violence.

Mister D, youre right, nobody likes that guy. That figurative guy is an idiot. And I wouldnt call up a radio show and complain about #30. Im just venting my displeasure with him.

But….Ill give you a distinction between CC Sabathia, a true winner, and #30. CC Sabathia led his team to the 2009 World Series. He put the team on his back pitching wise, and he *pitched on 3 days rest almost every start in the 2009 postseason.* Also, when the Brewers were attempting to make the postseason in 2008, the last month or 2 of that season, with his free agency right around the corner, *pitched in the regular season on 3 days rest numerous times*

Basically, he put hundreds of millions of dollars at risk just to help his team, the Brewers. I call that wanting to win more than anything. But maybe thats just me.

But Tiki. CC Sabathia was HORRENDOUS in the playoffs for the Brewers that year. Just like he was horrendous for the Cleveland Indians before. He finally got 20 wins when an offense was scoring 5+ runs a game for him.

Whats your problem Manny?? This guy has attacked my opinions for months with sarcasm laden posts, and Ive ignored him on all but 2 occasions. He didnt try to have a discussion, he just threw out another one of his sarcasm laden attacks. Youre a smart guy, you should be able to understand the difference, right?

Oh my goodness. Really?? He was horrible for the Brewers against the eventual World Series Champions, after pitching for a month on 3 days rest. Again, youre a smart guy, you know that 3 days rest isnt the norm nowadays. Pitchers are used to routine, every 5th day, pitch counts, so on and so forth. Anyhow, aside from that, he put at risk hundreds of millions of dollars to help his team win by pitching on 3 days rest for more than a month. Thats a guy who wants to win, and that cant be disputed.

Mister D, in 2007 and 2008, CC faced the eventual World Series Champions, Red Sox and Phillies, both extraordinary hitting teams. As Ive repeated already once, in 2008 against the Phillies, he had been pitching on 3 days rest for over a month.

With the Yankees, his postseason ERA has been by series in 2009. 1.35, 1.13, 3.29
In 2010, he pitched fine against the Twins, struggled against the extraordinary hitting team and World Series finalists Rangers. And Id have to look, but some of his appearances may have come at Arlington, a notorious hitting park. And in 2011, he struggled against the Tigers after a rain suspended Game 1 went 2 innings, then pitched again on 2 days rest in Game 3. Extenuating circumstances.

Tiki. I don’t care who a pitcher is facing. It could be an all start team. Two straight years of 10+ ERA in the postseason stinks. CC had two pitching performances of less than a 2 ERA in 2009. He was probably on Steroids. After that he went back to 3+ in the world series (where he had difficulty with Chase Utley, a lefty) then in 2010 a 6+ ERA and in 2011 a 6+ ERA. And guess what? After that he opted out of his contract to demand “hundreds of millions more” dollars.

Okay, so calling a person what they are is immature? I guess Dr. Senor Megrero has spoken.

I made my point about you, I have no need to continue it. Im just not going to allow you to bully me.

And for the rest of you, you could all learn something from our blog captain, ilb. About how to be better people. Do any of you see ilb mocking other people? No. The guy is a million times better than probably every single person on here including me. And a million times better is selling him short. He’s probably a billion times better of a person, smarter, etc. And he doesnt mock people. He treats people with respect. He’s someone we all could learn from. Im doing my best to learn from him, its a shame that none of you follow suit…

your basic point that you made at the end of that was that CC Sabathia wants to win, ur sayin Hank doesnt wanna win then? you make no sense
Hanks played the final 20 games of the season last year to help the Rangers make the playoffs, but he didnt want to win? he didnt want to make the playoffs?
CC has a ring, but did he pitch in every one of those games to win the title? no
Did he have a lot of help from his offense to help win that title? yes
This argument is so flawed bc it doesnt even make sense to compare bc they are such different situations and different sports and different situations

My baseball knowledge is probably even more meagre and weak than my hockey knowledge, but if I understand correctly, 2008 Sabathia was a legend because of his outstanding regular season performance just to get his mediocre team into the playoffs, despite not winning in those playoffs, mainly because he was facing much better teams and couldn’t win on his own. Correct?

your basic point that you made at the end of that was that CC wants to win, ur sayin Hank doesnt wanna win then? you make no sense
Hanks played the final 20 games of the season last year to help the Rangers make the playoffs, but he didnt want to win? he didnt want to make the playoffs?
CC has a ring, but did he pitch in every one of those games to win the title? no
Did he have a lot of help from his offense to help win that title? yes
This argument is so flawed bc it doesnt even make sense to compare bc they are such different situations and different sports and different situations

ilb dragged into this??? He’s the blog captain. He’s the leader. He leads by example. Some people need to mock others to feel big and bad, and powerful and important. ilb doesnt have to do that. He stands on his merits, is a true leader, is a true good person, and has taught me a great deal about life and being a better person. I think we all could learn from our captain. If you choose to continue mocking me, Manny, thats your choice. Ill pray for you.

so i drive 4 hours up to saratoga springs for work meetings till friday starting tom and when i check in to my room and get situated and put computer on and the blog what do i see now we are killing hank or maybe just tiki is. i will check back later when we talk about logical things not hank is the problem

Glad I am not a GM. NYR need another scorer. Kreider may be another Ryan or Nash. But remember, Ryan chose to go down to the AHL for a season to improve. Even if Kreider is a 35-40 goal scorer, it could take 3 to 4 seasons for him to get there.

I don’t want the rangers to trade anybody. I like Erixon, AA, Dubi, Hags and prospects like Miller and Yogan. Additionally, Would not want to have the team give up draft picks. But you have to give something up if you want a player like Nash or Ryan. I would be willing to give up some combo of the players above to acquire a 30+ goal scorer.

Oh right. Those test results are perfect and there are no scientific methods for enhancing performance that we don’t know about or can’t test for. Also, the MLB Player’s Union isn’t very powerful so it’s not like they could make that stuff up.

Please don’t pray for me. I don’t need religion being dragged into this along with ilb.

“Those test results are perfect and there are no scientific methods for enhancing performance that we don’t know about or can’t test for. Also, the MLB Player’s Union isn’t very powerful so it’s not like they could make that stuff up.”

Didnt take you for the conspiracy theorist. And Ill pray for you anyways. :)

Tiki, lets address what LW3H said. How is Sabathia’s ultimately unsuccessful 2008 heroic while Lundqvist’s ultimately unsuccessful 2010-11 is just another example of him not carrying his team all the way? To remind you, Lundqvist played _one third of an entire regular season_ without a rest at the end.

Please can we stop this? I dont want Carp to be pissed off, especially at me. I was just trying to vent/have a discussion about something with people that I have respect for and people I thought had some respect for me.

I dont much care for or about LW3H, but I do consider the rest of you like family, and I treat you all with respect in hopes of getting the same respect back in return.

so according to sportsnet up in canada they reported semin close to one year deal with pens. whats latest? for one year i would take a flier on him in a heartbeat. easily top 5-7 skill set in league. most lethal wristshot in game. PROBLEM HES A HEADCASE

2004, the team just wasnt that good, the pitching staff wasnt that good, and bullpen was worn out. Nothing to do with Mariano, though he may have been credited with 2 blown saves in the series.

2001, technically it was on him. If he makes a throw to 2nd base that he’s made perfectly 1000 times, we win. But I cant blame a guy who is a consummate winner, who has been there for his team for 15+ years and continues to work hard to get better, even at his age.

PED testing may be flawed, but every player gets tested at least 4 times during a season, and during offseasons too. So at some point, a guy’s test wouldve come up positive if he were using.

Braun’s test came up positive. He either did or did not use. CC has not used, at least since the testing procedures have been put in place in the mid 2000s.

CC Sabathia can actually control the game though. Henrik Lundqvist isn’t in control of how the team in front of him plays. Sure CC isn’t hitting (unless it’s in an NL park), but the pitcher runs the show in baseball. Hitting is what’s reactive. In hockey, it’s the other way around. Goalies have much less direct impact on the outcome of the game than pitchers do.

A pitcher is in control. He controls every pitch and dictates the game if he is doing his job. A goalie is not in control. He doesn’t have control of where the puck is going and his job is to be reactive.

2004: I remember the 4 starters, a 70 year old El Duque, Jon Lieber, Javier Vazquez, and Kevin Brown. Im shocked we ever had a 3-0 lead in the first place, but I wouldnt be surprised if it was the offense that led us to the the 3-0 lead. I do remember 19-8 being the final score of Game 3.

he would score 30 or so goals in the regular season, and all would love him. playoff time would come and he would vanish. then all would hate him.”

I think Semin is a bad idea. Really bad. Yet there is still a part of me that thinks, if it’s a one year deal, for decent $, maybe it would be great for the Rangers. They get some offense, have plenty of cap space to go after Perry or Webber next summer and keep their yuts.

Jonny, I never made any argument of the opposite. I simply defended CC in comparison to #30.

Latona, he has taught me a lot. And thats why Im actually not angry now. I used to get angry at silly things like an LW3H attempted dig, or Carp disagreeing with me, or a Manny mocking me to feel important. But now, I no longer get angry, and in the case of people mocking me for the purpose of feeling important, Ill just pray for them. And Ill continue treating others with respect like ilb would (sans LW3H, whom Ill just go back to ignoring until the next dig he throws my way).

Rangers West – the last two years Semin has struggled in the playoffs, but before then he was a point per game player in the playoffs. I think he needed to get out of there since it was pretty toxic in that locker room.

Tiki – fair enough, but that was your comparison, unless I misread something. You are saying that he stepped up while you don’t believe Henke did/does. I’m just telling you it’s hard to step up when you rely on 18 other guys to do the main factor that contributes in winning to do their job when as a pitcher, you really just need 1 guy to go out there and hit a HR as long as you can keep locating your pitches and changing speeds effectively.

It’s much harder to have that kind of control in a team sport. So while CC stepped up, it’s because he was in control of his situation and didn’t have to rely on everyone to come through where as Henke needs everyone in front of him to come through or else it won’t matter if he stops almost every puck.

NYR, I shouldve excluded Orr along with LW3H. I tried to mend fences with Orr, but unfortunately, he’s just a kid, and one of his goals is to antagonize me. And for whatever reason, you went along with him with the antagonism. Im human too, I make mistakes, and after enough badgering and antagonism, eventually Im going to “snap.”

And before you claim Orr doesnt intentionally antagonize me, plenty of other trusted RRers think he does and always advise me to ignore him, which I do 99% of the time.

Jonny D, youre right. That is a fair assessment of what I said. Im under the belief that #30 has got to save everything that comes his way, breakaways included, to carry his team on his back. And I dont see anything wrong with desiring that.

Mister D –

“make you immune from the backlash”

So I deserve backlash for being on #30’s case?? I deserve backlash for pinning a lot of the blame on him for getting knocked out of the playoffs?? Backlash for an opinion?? You cant simply disagree with the opinion and provide reasons why without mocking the person with the opinion. #30 is serious business. (I dont remember if you mocked me or not, just taking issue with the word backlash for an opinion). And I never called my opinion irrational. I said its not entirely rational.

Carp – recently disappeared in the playoffs. A few years back he was a PPG guy in the playoffs, even 2 seasons ago he had 7 in 9. And in 07-08 he had 8 in 7 (when the problem was their goaltending).

The guy proved before he can play in the playoffs. Just had a rough stretch the last 2 years.

I’m not saying I want him, I’m just trying to say that I hate it when guys get criticized for things because of something that happened once or twice and can’t be concluded as a trend. If Semin was born in Canada, they’d say he “was struggling because his teammates around him weren’t picking him up”, but because he’s Russian it means he’s “dog-byfuglien, has no heart, and is a problem on the team”.

Manny, Im trying to not flip a lid. Are you pretending to be stupid just to irritate me? Thats not an insult, its a genuine question. From all accounts, youre supposed to be a pretty smart guy.

You used a baseless percentage to claim players used steroids, something you have no knowledge of.

Im using a factual percentage of something i have knowledge of. Orr antagonized me from January thru the end of the Rangers playoffs at least 10 times a day. I responded 2 times. I think those 2 time falls within the 1%.

You literally ignore LW 99% of the time? I thought you were just throwing it out there as a colloquialism. A symbolic number to show that “most of the time” or “a large proportion of the time”. I didn’t know that you actually had scientific research showing that you ignored him 99% of the time and couldn’t ignore him the other 1%.

Jonny, I’m totally 100 percent basing it on the softest seven-game series I’ve probably ever seen anybody play, just a few months ago. Made Mike Green look like Chara, made Gaborik like Lucic, made Nedved look like Chris Neil.

I just wasted 2 hours of my life, 2 hours Ill never get back, trying to have a civil discussion with a bunch of people that had no desire to do so. Except for a couple, like Jonny and bulldog. A real shame. 2 whole hours of my already shortened life, wow! Im an idiot. Time to walk the dogs.

ORR antagonized you 146 times between January 1, 2012 and May 25th (last playoff game) based on your calculation of10 times a day and the whole leap year thing in February (29 days). You claim to have responded twice. I assume that is of the 146. Therefore, 2/146 = .014%

“I just wasted 2 hours of my life, 2 hours Ill never get back, trying to have a civil discussion with a bunch of people that had no desire to do so. Except for a couple, like Jonny and bulldog. A real shame. 2 whole hours of my already shortened life, wow! Im an idiot. Time to walk the dogs.”

Tiki:

This a blog. Who cares? Maybe spend less time in the tubes of the internets if this gets you upset, disproportionately so.

And Manny, Yes, I have scientific research. There have been thousands of posts of Orr/LW3H since January 2012, and Ive responded only a handful of times.

And since LW3H has once again used his sarcasm to say that I immaturely and antagonistically attacked #30 to draw attention to myself, Dr. Senor Megrero is 100% wrong. I actually prefer to not get negative attention, while having a civilized discussion with others.

That’s fine. I’m not really pointing that comment at you though (sorry if it seemed like I was). It’s just I know a lot of people go based off “reputation”, which in the NHL usually means if you aren’t Canadian (or North American really) you are a soft pansy who has no heart when it comes playoff time, which isn’t necessarily true. But the one or two times it is, the media just blows it way out of proportion to make it look like their point is right (i.e. Milbury/Cherry).

I think the issue with Semin is that he was playing a style he isn’t used to, where he was trying too hard to focus on his defensive game and not on his offensive game. However that in itself is a reason why the Rangers shouldn’t sign him since based on how the team plays, if he has to think about defensive positioning and blocking shots, he wouldn’t be a fit.

Certain hyper sensitive people that post too much and have an irrational sense of self worth (as it relates to professional teams) make me less likely to sift through 100’s of comments for the valuable posts that contain insight and info around the NY HOCKEY RANGERS.

That being said, here I am… at the bottom of the comments section with NO idea as to whether we have signed anyone (of note) yet.

FWIW – I think Hank is the MAN. Had a heck of a year along with the rest of his club (by and large). A lot of people say that their championship win began with the taste of defeat… that a tiny sense of what could have been drove them to find another gear they might not have had. I’d also venture that if we show the same level of growth over the next year as we showed last, the NYR will be bringing the hardware we want home to the Big Apple.

As a fan, I have no problems with Darth Sather’s relative inactivity – we begged for it for years and have a solid stable of youths. We know we’d love top-end scoring but if it cant be had within reason, why not wait for next years studs / see who develops?

How the byfuglien did I get dragged into this? :-). Kidding, I think the whole situation was actually handled on much more civilized level that it would’ve been handled a few months ago. Tiki is just presenting his point of view. I disagree with him too. Even though, deep inside, I believe it is his attempt to motivate Hank. Similar to what Miami’s bush-league-amatuer-hour-two-bit-clowns description of the team meant to achieve.

The funniest post almost sneaked up ( or is it snuck up, dammit?) on me:

Henrik hadn’t been great in the playoffs before this season, but he may have gained an advantage by not playing as much in the regular season in 2011-12. His postseason this year was superb and he was the team MVP as well as the best player in most games, many times the best player on both teams in a game.

Well said, Spider. So maybe a little more rest for him. Someone mentioned he played 20 straight games or something leading into the playoffs? Since we were nearly assured of a playoff spot with 20 games left, why was he still playing every game?

The minute Semin signs with pit or det it will be the worlds greatest signing. Yet if he signed with rangers then it’s the worst. Plus everyone here will say rangers should have signed him. Then if he did sign with rangers everyone here would say horrible signing.

ilb, sorry for dragging you into it. It felt like I was being bombarded from every angle. And if a person disagrees with my opinion, and then presents why they disagree, it makes for a civilized discussion. The continuous mocking, twisting of my words (to say I want him traded), comparisons of apples and horses, dont serve any purpose other than to antagonize. And honestly, Im pretty sure youre the best person I know, and I know many people. As you know, I use you as a role model to be better, and I think a lot of these people should try to follow your lead instead of mocking one of their own.

For a blog example, I used to think that because Carp disagreed with MUCH of what I think or say, that made him a bad guy. And you and Mama helped me see things differently. Carp is a truly great guy with strong opinions and strong moral beliefs. And he’s Italian, so he’s stubborn lol (Im half italian too!) Just because I disagree with him on some things doesnt mean I have to resort to being a jerk towards him.

Folks, Ottowa just did something that a team worried about losing an important piece might do. That would be sign a player a year before he hits free agency. So they did with Chris Neil, signing for 3 years just under $6M.

As Ranger fans, we all know how important he was to our first series this year. In the article announcing his signing, they had this to say:

“But his contributions weren’t just on the stat sheet. The grinder gave the Senators much-needed toughness when they needed it, such as during a hard-fought first round loss to the New York Rangers, and provided leadership on a young team.

Toughness and veteran leadership are two things you can’t put a price on so everyone just overpays for. That in mind, Neil would have been a hot commodity on the open market, especially if he manages to duplicate last year’s performance in the final year of his contract.”

There ARE certain players whose contribution is not goals, +/-, or other measurable statistics. Sometimes you just can’t put a price on what some players mean to a team.

Actually, Lloyd, if you create good will with your players by letting them know you want them, perhaps they might give you a discount. Treated like Slather almost always does, why not test FA?? Prust might have been willing to settle at a more realistic number than what he ended up with. But if you let these guys that have intrinsic value get to the FA game, AS THE ARTICLE SAID AND AS PRUST DID, teams will overpay. The trick is to not let them get there. That’s what Ottowa did. That’s what we did not.

Listening to Prust’s post-game, final game interview, he wanted to stay here. I continue to believe that something happened between he and ‘the team’ (like the front office) where he didn’t feel that the, as he said ‘team wanted him’. From his body language and comments it seemed pretty clear he wanted to stay. Just like Neil did.

Neil is very effective at what he does. If he hit the open market, there might be a team out there that would give him Prust type-Montreal dollars. Possibly the Rangers might do that for him. Just not for Prust.

I wasn’t there, so I don’t know, NYR. It sure seems like the, whatever it was, $1.8 or $1.9 that was offered should have been a good starting point. Only the people in the room know how it was handled.

I would have expected Prust to stay, given his public comments, but again, once you let a player get out to FA, all it takes is one team to overpay. Ottowa did a smart thing by not letting him get there. THe tactic is smart. Try negotiating a year ahead of time with players you like. It might work in NY, too.

Bingo Matty, that’s the point I’ve been (apparently ineffectively) making for the past two weeks- it never had to come to this, Prust should never have been allowed to become a UFA. Usual Sather arrogance and market misread, makes his point in the wrong situation. And we lost a valuable asset as a result. Total mismanagement of assets.

Matty, I don’t know what happened behind closed doors…it’s hard to make a salary jump like that when you’re a veteran in the league (Prust). Usually, a guy with that many years under his belt (still making ~$800k) will have to leave the org to get a significant raise….

that’s pretty much true in the business world, too…people move on, feelings sometimes get hurt.

You think Prust would have negotiated mid-season? Maybe he would have been caught up in the euphoria of the Playoff run. Honestly, I doubt it. Seems like he was definitely pretty hell bent on testing the market.

Manny, Ken Daneyko stayed in NJ for less. It’s not always about business.

Clearly Neil loves Ottowa for whatever his reasons are. THe emotion Prust showed post-game, final game was too strong and seemingly genuine for him to have been wanting to test the FA market. There are ways to capitalize on that emotion. OR, you can be a jerk as a GM an mishandle it.

This is the guy who called Brian Leetch on his 36th birthday and said, “you’re traded”.

I’m not going to speculate how our GM handled it, except to say, he must have read the situation a bit wrong because this was a player that wanted to stay and he didn’t. Same as Chris Neil, but, oops….he did.

Nobody respected Prust for what he did and what he meant more than me, but two days after the playoffs ended, his comments almost screamed out to me that he wanted to see what he was worth on the open market.

I will say again that Sather has drawn the wrong lessons from his mistakes of the past. He let the pendulum swing too far in not signing Prust over a few hundred grand, and he’s making the same mistake now in not locking down Nash because heaven forbid we lose any of our “core”.

Let’s not rush to judgement about how great a move Ottawa made either. Neil’s extension doesn’t even kick in until next summer, when he’ll be 34. It’s projecting slightly to state now that he’ll still be a useful player in 2015/16.

And blog favourite Konopka wasn’t locked up by the Senators before he hit free agency.

Neil was one of Ottowa’s most dominant players in the first round this year. He had a big impact in many ways, including getting in front of Henrik and being in the right place at the right time. I would say that he was more valuable than Prust for his team than Prust was for us (injury acknowledged).

These KC idiots booed CC and Cano and Grandy and cheered Ryan Braun. What a bunch of losers Kansas City is. When your pride is Billy Butler, youre in deep doo doo. They just cheered Mr Milkshakes Ortiz.

Matty, yes Carp does have strong moral conviction. When you meet him, he’s even better in person. I got the opportunity to speak with him for a half hour on 2 occasions, and in person, he’s a little more laid back. We took a picture together and neither of us was strangling the other, LOL!

Matty, I didn’t speak to Prust after the final game … but I did on breakup day, and you can still hear that on the blog post that day. He was excited to see what was out there.

Matteau, do you think Sather should give up more in order to get Nash sooner just because some fans are getting antsy? or should he hold out to try and get him for less later on? Again, I’m not a big fan of Sather historically, but I think he’s handling the Nash thing very well.

I just met him by happenstance, Matty, outside one of the entrances to MSG. I actually recognized him before Blogmama, whos known him forever. I said “Mama, is that Carp?” And then she ran over to him. Pretty funny.

Carp as I’ve said it certainly is not to respond to bloggers, it is because this is an auction process and Nash is under contract. Columbus does not have to make a move until they get what they feel is an acceptable return. Eventually one of the many teams that covet Nash will step up. Sather needed to lock this up before it got to this point, even if it means slightly overpaying in the minds of some Ranger fans. Would not say this in a rebuild scenario but that’s not where we are.

And by the way Carp about a month ago if memory serves you didn’t think Stepan and MDZ for Nash was overpaying. We’re all entitled to have our views evolve so I get it if yours did, but the point is it’s not so far-fetched.

Remember that time that the NL MVP tested positive for ‘roids. Without a doubt positive. But then he got off on a technicality regarding chain of custody for his urine? Like someone poisoned it. Bwahahaha.

Wow, really happy for Melky. The kid deserves success. He’s gonna cash in during his next free agency. He’ll likely get more AAV than Parise and Crosby. How cool is that?

It is what it is, Carp. Its the way you carry yourself. Remember when I asked you in person why you never banned me, and you had no response so you made the joke “Do you want me to ban you?.” It said everything about your character.

I’d rather not give up Del Zotto or Stepan, but I don’t think either player is going to be one of the top 20 or 25 players in the NHL, which Nash is, or should be. If Stepan has to be involved, I’d have to seriously consider it. No way on McDonagh and Kreider, though … I’ve said that all along.

By waiting, maybe Sather can get him without giving up either McD or Stepan.

I dont know whether I believe Braun or not, but whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. This isnt a court of law, nor does his positive test involve a court of law, but appealed the decision, and it was decided that the sample might have been affected. He also said, whether its true or not, that his sample had *60* times the testosterone of a usual positive steroid test.

I just wonder how some of you would feel if you were accused of something, and accused in the media as well, and you knew in your heart you were innocent. But nobody believed you. Its gotta be the loneliest feeling in the world. Maybe thats why as a kid, I wanted to be a public defender for those that couldnt afford proper representation. How many innocent people are sitting in prisons across America, how many have been put to death. Just sad. No politics here.

Just joking :)
A buddy of mine texted me earlier today that if we lose out on Nash, Doan, and Ryan, that Heatley could be an option. Carp, how close were we to getting him a few years ago? How would you all feel about that trade?

In looking at his numbers the last few years, it would seem just hanging on to Dubi would probably be a better option. Dubi is capable of Heatley’s numbers of the last few years.

I’ve met Carp a few times at the games, great guy and very nice to my son with the Rangers/Santa hat. Thanks Carp! And have to say that while Prust loved the Rangers he always struck me as a professional with a job to do, not a guy who would take a hometown discount or was sentimental. When he won the extra effort award, I got the sense that he really didn’t get that it’s a pretty big deal, didn’t seem to grasp how important a thing that was. As matter of factly as he said ” it’s just pain” I could see him saying “gotta get paid.”. And I don’t mean that in any negative way, I loved the guy just like the rest of you did, and I don’t blame a guy like him for a second for trying to squeeze every last buck out of his career in what a surely his most important and prime earning years, and for also wanting to be closer to his girlfriend. Point is, he wasn’t taking a hometown discount and frankly even if the Rangers matched theHabs offer, not sure he would have stayed.

May be participating in another Seinfeld trivia tourney later this summer. I’ll try and remember the questions and email them to you.

As far as the Rangers are concerned, I have no idea what the general consensus is on what’s happened so far. But, in case anyone cares, here’s my take:

-Asham is just a cheaper Prust who will step right in and be a good teammate.
-Pyatt appears to be mere depth and nothing more.
-Not sure how anyone can bemoan the Halpern signing: 1 year, $700K? That’s couch cushion money right there…and the guy wins faceoffs and has played important games in the conference.

That said, this quietness better lead to something big soon. Getting antsy!

“The booing of Cano was inspired by his failure to pick Kansas City All-Star Billy Butler for the Derby after pledging earlier this month to include a Royal. Last year’s National League captain, Prince Fielder, received similar treatment in Phoenix for not picking Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton.”

cano getting booed was unnecessary and hilarious at the same time. the fact he threw up a goose egg was crazy. I didn’t know the back story and initially assumed he was booed for being a Yankee with KC fans still upset with the bad Gabe Paul trades.

stranger, thats what happens when a “fanbase” (I used that word loosely because Im not sure you can consider KC to have a fanbase) has nothing to cheer for.

Wow for Melky. Rarely do I ever get any happiness out of a player from another team succeeding, including former Yankees… but I always loved the kid. Never thought he’d turn into the stud that he’s turned into, but he loves the game, won 3 games via walkoff for the Yanks in 2009, and its just fun to see a kid like him succeed. Hopefully, the Yanks get him back when he becomes a free agent I think after this year or next year, since Swish and Grandy will be too expensive.

YOu guys are too good and too fast for me, so let me get my head on straight about what I;ve been reading here about different players..this Doan is a super star…right? Wrong? If so why. He’s not so physically huge, and I did see him playing in the playoffs, and he looked quite ordinary ( admittedly I was expecting a much more robust guy, but everyone seems to think he’s special. so I guess he is,
but how does he stack up against the folks who would be traded away in order to get him? Is he really worth them?